Week of 16th July

We once again had a small but dedicated turn out of Rotarians this week and Wayne brought his lovey wife Helen along for a very nice meal. As it was a fellowship and brainstorming meeting, there was no guest speaker on the night but the conversation was exceptionally interesting and productive. A number of charities that Coolamon Rotary might like to fund were discussed as were potential guest speakers. On other news, Lucia arrived home safely. There will be a briefing by Wollundry Rotary on our involvement with the Gear and Beers event for this year on the 20th of August - it is apparently shaping up to be a big year with approximately 725 participants for the Dirty 130 ride. Neil also informed us that bingo had a small but dedicated showing. Wayne informed us he had a yarn with Trevor who is apparently very lethargic but slowly recovering and looking on the bright side of life. He is hoping to get back to Rotary at some point. Members also discussed the possibility of a social function this year in hopes of promoting fellowship.

A lengthy discussion ensued when Myffy raised some the issues she had encountered while producing the Chronicle. She has found that a number of service organisations in the shire are struggling and in many instances doubling up on events and causes. This raised a discussion on how to better coordinate community efforts in order to better benefit those in need. A solution was not clearly forthcoming but all members acknowledged the issue and agreed that a concerted effort was bound to yield some meaningful results.

The club would like to remind members to please put in their apologies if they do not intend to come to the Monday meeting. Not doing so is creating difficulty for the restaurant and the club in terms of preventing waste and containing costs. From now on, if an apology is not given, you will be charged for the cost of the meal.

Charity funding options

President Daryl is very interested in your ideas for charity funding so if you have one please get in contact with him. The potential charities that were discussed were :

Bear Cottage - A palliative care facility for children which is community funded

End Trachoma - Trachoma is an eye infection that causes blindness in and is endemic in rural and remote aboriginal populations in Australia, the only first world nation that has this disease prevalent in a population

Mental Health awareness

Drug and alcohol awarenss

Purple House

ROMAC

Legacy - which is being supported by our district and looking to make a centennial time capsule to commemorate the anniversary of the armistice to end WWI. District Governor John is looking to form a committee of interested people; if you would like to participate please let John know.

Polio Plus - District Governor John is going to be putting on a district-wide bike relay to raise money to help finally eradicate polio. He is looking for committee members that would be interested in helping with the Coolamon leg of the relay.

Potential Guest speakers

A number of guest speakers are hoping to be lined up over the next few months. These include:

West Wylong resident Robyn Lewis who is a recovering ice addict. We are looking to get her to speak in the 13th of August. Her story sounds absolutely fascinating and very informative. Robyn has recently been asked to serve on a national committee for drug and alcohol abuse.

John Nixon from Can Assist for cancer patient treatment and care

Jason from the Office of Environment and Heritage to talk on environmental legislation, particularly regarding trees

John Nulty on his recent trip to Vietnam

The local police officer to talk on road safety and other community related issues.

Lucia now safely home in Germany

Lucia, our exchange student for the past year, is now at home in Germany. We received the photo below from Lucia showing the welcome she received at the airport from her mother and brothers. Keep in touch, Lucia!

Community Events

Reminders

Annual subscription fees will be due from next week

Please get your working with children check completed and give the number and expiry date to the Secretary ASAP. Failure to do so may mean you are not covered insurance wise when you volunteer at events.